hand and suggesting it was paul ryan at this point. but this paul ryan pick confirms that. it's difficult for the obama campaign to go after mitt romney on those personal issues on his business background on bain capital when really mitt romney is thrown down a marker here to say, no, this is going to be about fiscal issues. it's going to be about the national debt. it's very much about this vision paul ryan has been working towards his entire political career. it's sort of interesting to see, wolf, typically when you see a candidate running it's the advice of the top of the ticket, but the bottom, paul ryan, the central focus as it rolls on here. you're right. you can see the crowd very big behind me. you see the "uss wisconsin" also behind me. still at this point no signs of paul ryan physically or in the signage on the site at this campaign event. it is a sign that all of this is

still a work in progress at this point, wolfe. >> stand by, jim acosta, he's in norfolk, virginia right near the "uss wisconsin," the battleship, the backdrop for this announcement. 42-year-old paul ryan will be the vice presidential running mate to mitt romney. john king is here with all of us watching this unfold. you had a chance to go in-depth, take a look at who this young man is. >> it's a fascinating choice. we started with rob portman, senator from ohio, then a lot of buzz about tim pauletta, former governor from minnesota. he turned to a 42-year-old guy, house member from wisconsin that many conservatives said he needed to shake up the race. >> we want to give -- >> for paul ryan debating joe biden might feel like a demotion. >> my question is why not start freezing spending now and would you support a line item veto helping us get a vote on it in the house. >> let me respond to the two specific questions, but i want to just pushback a little on the

underlying premise about us increasing spending by 84%. >> the discretionary spending, bills that congress signs that you signed into law, that has increased 84%. >> we'll have a longer debate on the budget numbers then. >> ryan is the gop's numbers guy of, the house budget committee chairman who isn't afraid to say in his view the only way back to fiscal sanity is dramatically shrink government and fundamentally change medicare. >> if you don't address these issues now, they are going to steam roll us as a country. the issue is the more you delay fixing the problems the much uglier it will have to be. >> he's a lightning rod. >> a bold choice, risky choice. it's hard to see mitt romney who has played it safe making that kind of gamble. >> reporter: there are upsides. it would energize gop base. romney is an energetic debater

and campaigner. at 42 he would add youthful vigor to the ticket. green says ryan would help romney in wife and across the midwest. >> i think he does get wisconsin. more importantly he gets that blue-collar conservatism that i think is the heart of the republican party. >> tapping ryan is a big gamble because of the house gop budget that bears his name. up to now romney has done everything to make this campaign a referendum on the incumbent. >> the president's policies are not creating jobs. >> reporter: add ryan to the ticket and there's no escaping this. >> ryan's plan to end medicare as we know it must be takenocity table. >> reporter: other potential down sides, he has never run statewide, no foreign policy experience. some will question whether a 42-year-old house member is ready to be commander in chief. >> one of the stars of the republican future over the next 10 to 20 years. whether he's ready at this moment, only the campaign trail could tell. he's going to get -- i'm going

to tell you he will take a real beating. >> ryan says family history makes him a fitness fanatic leading house colleagues in grueling cross training workouts. >> my dad died of a heart attack at 55, my grandfather at 57. i've always had this incentive to stay healthy. >> reporter: an avid hunter as learned when he got a post from tanzania. >> i got a ters response saying i'm sitting in a deer stand. it's hunting season, leave me alone. >> reporter: it's clear if he had his druthers he'd rather debate the president. >> i love the idea of barack obama. i love the fact we have elected an african-american man as our president. i think that is just a really cool thing. i just don't like the ideas coming from baracobama. >> reporter: but it is romney who will share the biggest debate stage. >> governor mitt romney, hopefully the next president of the united states of america.

>> we now know it is paul ryan. he won't get to debate the president in the fall. he will get to debate joe biden. maybe he'll come up and say, hey, can i call you joe. a process. he has events with mitt romney today. he'll go forward. portman is doing a 100 mile bike ride to raise money for cancer research. wolfe, when we make the announcement i was told by a campaign official you will not only see paul ryan on the "uss wisconsin" but his wife and three children are on hand as well. >> liza, charlie, and sam. we'll see the whole ryan family. these are live pictures, by the way, where they are getting ready for this announce men. what is joe biden, the vice president of the united states, think of paul ryan and his ideas? last month, this is what vice president biden said. >> these are decent honorable men and women. i'm not playing a game these guys are bad guys. they just have a different value

set as to what is the most important thing that we should be doing. just look at congressman ryan, a bright, bright guy, an honorable man. his budget, which has been embraced by every member on the republican side of the house of representatives. you might remember the first ryan budget last year, there was nothing subtle about it. it dismantled medicare and would have turned it into a voucher program over a ten-year period. >> a little preview of what's in store for a debate potentially between joe biden and paul ryan. let's bring in cnn contributors john avlon, a senior political columnist daily beast, ari fleischer and democratic strategist james carville. let me start with you, john. what do you think about what joe biden said about paul ryan in that little clip and that was just a few weeks ago. >> sure, a preview of things to come, no question. up to this point mitt romney has

pursued a general strategy of attack and distract. he hasn't pro poepd new policies. now with paul ryan, maybe the first nominee in history to outsource his policy. that ryan plan he has been rewarded for his courage and put a specific policy plan on the table. 73 pages, 37 footnotes. but i'll tell you this, all that is attached to the nominee. we really have at this point is a choice election, a very different vision. i think this pick invigorates the republican base. paul ryan is one of the smartest republicans nationally, the intellectual leader of congress for all time. i think it's a bold pick but a risky pick to come. that biden clip is what's to come. >> two different economic visions for the future of the united states. james carville, you're here with us. i want to play another clip. this was about a year or so ago after a special election in new york state. the democratic person won for a congressional seat.

at that moment, there was sort of a meeting, if you will, a chance meeting between paul ryan and your former boss, the former president of the united states bill clinton. what they said was caught on camera. watch. >> paul ryan. >> how are you? >> doing great. >> good to see you. >> good to see you, too. >> i'm glad we won this race in new york but i hope the democrats don't use it as an excuse to do nothing. >> it's going to sink into paralysis is what's going to happen. you know the math. we knew we were putting ourselves out there, but you've got to get out there, get this thing moving. >> you hear the former president saying to paul ryan if you wan to talk about it, give me a call. he said, sure, i'll call you. they both lamented the fact there could be paralysis in washington. guess what, in the year that has followed that little exchange there's been paralysis in

washington. >> i think brian, as the vice president pointed out, a bright guy, engaging, interested in policy. president clinton is obviously a bright guy engaged in policy and will probably have a really interesting discussion here. my sense here is that the democrats are going to hit this thing pretty hard and pretty early. it's going to be interesting to see how it gets framed, how it plays out. there's stark contrasts between what congressman romney proposes. 4% of gdp, ryan wants defense spending and discretionary spending 3 to 4% of gdp. democrats are going to hit that hard. they are going to hit all the distribution tables pretty hard. it's going to be an interesting time between now and the convention to see what happens here. >> let me bring ari fleischer in for a moment. ari, you know paul ryan. you've worked with him over the years. he's obviously a very, very smart guy.

is he going to -- on these economic issues, is he going to dominate? is he going to overshadow mitt romney? >> no. vice presidents never overshadow the president when it comes to policy and this type of thing. when you look at the romney plans, so many of them are actually based on medicare and big significant reforms to stop from a policy point of view, one of the least focused on parts of the campaign. what i think this fundamentally does, it changes the race into a four word summary. three words are latin, reform versus status quo. if you're mitt romney, that is a strong new position to be in in that race. what it does is reenergizes the race and makes it more like 2010 excitement model when they swept washington as opposed to the way this race seemed to be going of late. big decision, big choice. some controversy downsized to it as well. i think this is a fabulous choice for mitt romney. >> a lot of republicans will certainly agree with you.

we'll see what happens over the course of the next 87 days between now and november 6th. we have dug deep. we're taking a closer look to see what mitt romney the republican presidential candidate has actually said in recent weeks about his now known running mate paul ryan. we'll play some of the clips for you. stand by. we're awaiting this announcement for mitt romney, the vice presidential choice has been made.

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announcement paul ryan will be his running mate. the campaign issued a press release about an hour or so ago making it all official. we've known for several hours it is, in fact, paul ryan, a romney ryan ticket. we've got full analysis coming up here on cnn. i want to play this little clip because back in june, mitt romney had a little rope line conversation with reporters and they spoke about a vice presidential running mate. let me play this for you. >> what's the best piece of advice on those rope lines you think you received from somebody. >> stop trying to be like yourself. be someone else. just don't be you. just kidding. >> again, i didn't get any of it today on the rope line today in iowa. but in wisconsin i get a lot of people saying paul ryan is your

vb. in ohio i got rob portman. i got a myriad of ideas depending on the state i'm in, which should not be surprising. >> if you can read along, that was on the plane talking about rope line experience. when he's in ohio a lot of people like rob portman, the senator from ohio. when he's in wisconsin, a lot of folks like congressman paul ryan. let's bring in david gergen watching this unfold. give us perspective on this bold decision by mitt romney to select 42-year-old paul ryan, david. >> this is a decision that is very contrary to most historic positions about the vice presidency. normally you announce the vice presidency on a day you'll get maximum prime time exposure. here he is on saturday morning when you obvious minimize by announcing at that hour. typically the candidate goes to the center when he chooses his vice president. here mitt romney has gone to his

rig right. typically a press dngs candidate would choose a safe choice. one would think mitt romney who has run an extraordinary cautious campaign would play it safe. he's rolled the dice. everyone is saying, it's a big gamble, will revive the republican party. they were worried this campaign was starting to drit doft downh. they are fired up about it. the real test is over time. whether this is an opening for democrats, change the subject away from jobs yet once again and now go after medicare, medicare proposal from the republicans. >> didn't necessarily work out, david, all that well for the democrats in the 2010 midterm elections. they tried to do that ain a lot of these house races and got walloped. >> they did. they wanted to come back to this issue, nancy pelosi has wanted to come back to medicare. i do think there is a cnn poll,

wolf, for last summer asking about republican medicare proposals that was rejected of the numbers were like 58-35 against the republican medicare proposals. we'll have to see how it plays out. there's no question for democrats. this opens up a new fresh line of attack they have been going after using their ads on romney after his personal stuff, his background. he has not handled very well. they were starting to run out of ammunition on the democratic side. now they have fresh ammunition to lob. we'll see. in the short-term, i don't think there's any question. i think republicans will be revised but we'll have to see how it plays over time. >> i agree. certainly coming on the heels of national polls, cnn polls. other polls this week released as well, the fox news poll showing the president was building up a significant lead national

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meineke's personal pricing on brakes. i tell mike what i can spend. i do my best to make that work. we're driving safely. and sue saved money on brakes. now that's personal pricing. we've got breaking news. you're looking at live pictures. that's the podium where mitt romney momentarily will show up, announce paul ryan is his running mate. it will be a romney/ryan ticket versus obama/biden. we know mitt romney and paul ryan have established a close personal relationship and that was underscored april 1st this year, april fool's day when paul ryan played a practical joke on

the republican presidential candidate and then later romney spoke about it. >> paul ryan, governor, may be next president of the united states. [ laughter ] >> april fool's joke. you see paul ryan over there laughing. they bring mitt romney into a room over there. they are getting ready for a big crowd. you know what, there are three staffers standing by. that was very funny, a little practical joke. >> right. you know, romney himself, particularly when he was younger was considered quite a prankster, so he probably appreciated that. people in the campaign have told me they have established a really good personal rapport. romney also established a personal rapport with tim pawlenty, though, i might add.

one republican strategist close to the campaign said something really telling to me, which is that he said that paul ryan is the kind of guy that mitt romney would have hired at bain capital, that he's a smart, young thinker with new ideas. those are the kinds of people mitt romney used to like to bring into bain capital, and he just hired him to be on the ticket. >> there you see the former governor of virginia, george allen, running for the senate. the republican of he's gathered already. he's there in norfolk, virginia, awaiting the arrival of the motorcade. i think it arrived bringing mitt romney and paul ryan presumably to this event. candy, you wanted to weigh in. >> first of all, yes, i think this is a bold choice as a number of people have said. but the idea that mitt romney can't make those sort of defies what he did for a living, and that was risk. he took high risks in some of these investments that he did. some of them paid off, some of them didn't. so he is a risk taker when he

needs to be. clearly he thought he needed to be. i just wanted to read you one quick e-mail i got back with a democrat around the obama campaign. said how do you argue this. ryan, same argument. favors the wealth at the expense of the middle class. just add in seniors in the fore. it's the same argument now, we're just on steroids. >> all right, guys. stand by for a moment. when we come back, bill bennett joining us. he was paul ryan's mentor when paul ryan finished college will one of the first jobs he did get was at empower america, worked with jack kemp congressman from new york state and bill bennett, bill bennett standing by to share thoughts about paul ryan.

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>> told the motorcade carrying mitt romney to this event in norfolk, virginia, near the "uss wisconsin," the battleship

commissioned during world war ii is there. we're going to be hearing from mitt romney soon. he'll announce paul ryan the republican congressman from wisconsin is, in fact, his vice presidential running mate. our own candy crowley had a chance to reflect with paul ryan not too long ago about what it was like growing up, why he went into politics. listen to this. >> my grandfather was a doctor, uncle, i had doctors in my family. i looked up to them. then i got into chemistry and biology, it wasn't my aptitude. i didn't want to take years of that. i fell into economics. i'm a big skier. i was a big skier, into freestyle, mobile skiing. my mom was worried after college i went to do skiing, two years would turn into five, ten, whatever years. i was offered jobs as economic policy researcher for home state senator at the time. she took me a nudge to take that job. she was worried i would become a

skee bum. that's when i got involved in politics. jack kemp, my mentor with bill bennett. that's what got me into public policy and kind of is why i'm here today. >> economic policy versus skiing. did you ever regret that decision? >> sometimes. >> skiing might be a little more fun but he loves economics. bill bennett is joining us on the phone right now. he was, what, a 23-year-old kid when he came to empower america, your think tank. you began working with him. you gave him some advice about running for office. didn't you, bill? >> i did. i did. he called me when he thought about running, wolf. i have to ask you first to see if this passes the laugh test, should i run for congress? i said absolutely. you'll do well. you'll win. avenues hard worker. he worked for jack kemp in the economics area but worked for me, too. we worked on that welfare issue up to 1996, which you've been talking about lately.

but a year ago, almost to the day we were together in colorado last year hiking. i was trying to encourage him to run for president. he said he wouldn't do it, a bunch of committee work and family. he said -- i said supposing you're offered the second spot, he said i would think very seriously. >> why would he do that? why would he not run for republican presidential nomination but would, in fact, accept vice presidential second slot. what was his explanation for that, bill? >> well, other commitments, the budget committee work he's done. again, family was an issue. look at the time factor, wolf. look how long we've been looking at mitt romney and the other candidates for president as opposed to the vice president schedule. it's a matter of two months on the campaign trail as opposed to a year, year and a half. again, that work on the budget

committee would have been sacrificed. that's very, very important to him. >> a lot of us who knew jack kemp, unfortunately he passed away prematurely, obviously thoft him as what we would call a compassionate conservative. how would you compare paul ryan and jack kemp? >> well, i think they are similar. look, people have written articles about paul saying he's the next jack kemp. if you listen to paul's approach, his style, it's not bare teeth. he doesn't do brass knuckles. he is without guile. he's straightforward, agreeable. you see him in these debates with chris van hollen and other people. you played a little excerpt conversation with president obama. very courteous. he said i very much like the idea of president obama, this man becoming the president of the united states. i just don't like the ideas of president obama. he is an extremely reliable

person but an extremely decent person. a lot of goodwill in what paul ryan says. it's strong stuff. i think this choice represents, i'll agree with the panel, a bold move, a strong move. an important decision by the american people about whether to do the responsible thing. i think the theme of paul ryan is do the responsible thing. he is the guy who has been the herald of fiscal responsibility. >> very briefly, bill, what does it say about mitt romney, his decision to not go, let's say, with the marco rubio, not go with chris christie, not go with tim pawlenty or rob portman but go with paul ryan? >> it's a decision about the critical choices the country has to make. it's a strong decision. it's a responsible decision. it's a bold decision. i'm glad he made it. i think he's got the right guy. i think as this country gets to know paul ryan, they are going to really, really like him as i do. >> we're only moments away from the official announcement in

norfolk, virginia, right near the "uss wisconsin," the battleship there. stand by. also this note to you, what matters what you think of paul ryan as mitt romney's choice to be the vice presidential running mate. here is a chance for you. go to facebook.com/cnnpolitics. register your vote in our cnn facebook q&a. we're going to bring the results later in this broadcast. stand by. we're only moments away from mitt romney and paul ryan together. the running mates. right here on cnn. energy is being produced to power our lives. while energy development comes with some risk, north america's natural gas producers are committed to safely and responsibly providing generations of cleaner-burning energy for our country, drilling thousands of feet below fresh water sources within self-contained well systems. and, using state-of-the-art monitoring technologies, rigorous practices help ensure our operations are safe and clean for our communities and the environment. we're america's natural gas.

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we're only minutes away.

you're going to see them both together. other speakers are beginning to warm up the crowd in norfolk, virginia right now outside the uss battleship. the "uss wisconsin." pretty soon for the first time as running mates we will see them together, mitt romney and paul ryan. paul ryan the vice presidential running mate. paul ryan will speak obviously. mitt romney will speak. they will both make important statements. but the romney campaign already has just released some excerpts of what paul ryan will say. i want to preview of what we're about to hear from paul ryan. here is one excerpt. i'll have paul, candy, read excerpts they love. the first paragraph what they release. here is what he says about paul ryan, mitt romney. paul ryan is a leader with the skills and background our country needs at a crucial time in history. following four years of failed leadership, the hopes of our country, which have inspired the world, are growing dim. they need someone to revive

them. governor romney is the man for this moment. he and i share one commitment. we will restore dreams of this country, the excerpt from what paul ryan will say. candy, give me an excerpt you like. >> i think something that addresses what we have seen, anecdotally when you're out there, also the idea that america's best days are done. there's just something fundamentally different about america now. ryan will say i hear some people say this is just the new normal, high unemployment, declining incomes and crushing debt is not a new normal. it's the result of misguided policies and next january our economy will begin a comeback for stronger middle class, et cetera, et cetera. >> that's a good excerpt. gloria, have you got an excerpt? >> i think this excerpt speaks to the sense this election is about the future. mitt romney and paul ryan are going to lead on the issue. he says, we won't duck on the tough issues. we will lead. we won't blame others. we will take responsibility. we won't replace our founding

principles. we will reapply them. so that speaks to the conservatives, the tea partiers in the party but also saying, looks we're going to take on medicare. we're going to take on social security. we need to fix them and the time is now. >> he's not ducking the tough issues, paul ryan, a face like medicare, a tough issue very directly, john. give me an excerpt. >> i want to continue on that theme. this the challenge for the romney/ryan ticket. you heard democrats. cut spending, social safety net, student loans, hurt medicare. here is what they say back and what paul ryan says. we can turn this thing around. real solutions can be delivered but it will take leadership and courage to tell you the truth. their point is essentially you had this man elected, president obama is a transformational leader who promised to change washington, promised to deal with the big issues. they are go to make the case, whether it's medicare, whether it's social security, budget deficit, immigration that the president has been in office for three and a half years, where is his plan. this is going to be, if you

think our proposals are controversial, mr. president, why haven't you dealt with it yourself. >> everybody standing by. george allen, u.s. candidate for virginia warming up the crowd facing tim kaine former governor of virginia himself. a tough race there. we're going to try to find out when exactly mitt romney decided paul ryan should be his running mate while he went against some of the others who were front-runners at least for the time being. we'll take a quick break. we're getting ready to see paul ryan standing next to mitt romney, the republican ticket momentarily. [ male announcer ] this is anna, her long day teaching the perfect swing

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>> live pictures from norfolk, virginia. george allen warming up the crowd, the republican candidate for senate. he's facing a tough challenge from tim kaine, virginia, key battleground state. one of the reasons why requirement has decided to make his dramatic announcement for his vice presidential running mate in virginia, because it is so important in this electoral contest. electoral college contest. let's go to jim acosta. he's in norfolk watching thun fold. we're getting more information on when mitt romney decided paul ryan is the man. >> reporter: that's right, wolf. it's very interesting to report this. a senior romney adviser just confirmed to me a few moments ago that mitt romney made this choice, decided to pick paul ryan as his running mate august 1st. that was nearly two weeks ago he made this decision. obviously the former governor has a poker face, he was able to

keep it secret for so long. what is so interesting about the august 1st date, the day after his trip, which by a lot of people's estimates didn't go well. perhaps mitt romney came back and said it's time to change the narrative from that trip and back to what the campaign is, which campaign advisers say will be about big ideas and contrast. another adviser tells me about the timing of today. why today. they say, yes, the olympics, that is going on this weekend. a lot of people will be watching on the olympics. they also wanted to capitalize on that moment. there will ab lot of people watching tv and perhaps they will flip over and watch what is going on with this vice presidential selection. also they wanted to dominate the new cycle of the weekend, this adviser tells me, and dominate the news cycle heading into this week. they say this 24/7 news cycle sometimes you have to pull surprises to get attention. safe to say that's what they did this morning.

also paul ryan will be here with his family when this event gets started. we're expecting that at the top of the hour. as you know, this was a big audible the romney campaign pulled in terms of pulling this together this morning. so it's possible this may happen maybe a little bit after 9:00. but we think at the top of the hour, wolf. >> very soon. only moments away. a huge crowd, lively crowd there. tell us what we're seeing. we see a lot of people. give us your thoughts. >> this is definitely one of the most energetic crowds we've seen so far. from a standpoint not much better than having a battleship behind you, the romney bus there just in front of the ballots ship. on that bus, this is a brand-new wrap, on that bus, romney plan for stronger middle class. as james carville has been telling us, this campaign will

be about the middle class. at the bottom of the bus, it will be about more jobs, mo take home pay. that is the message they are trying to drive home. voting for mitt romney will put more money in your pocketbooks. how will that happen? romney saying tax cuts. mitt romney is talking about tax cuts as part of his big economic plan. we're going to hear more about that this morning as well as paying attention to the national debt. democrats will say, hey, wait a minute, two don't go together. you can't have massive tax cuts the way the romney campaign is talking about it but they say yes, you can. that's a contrast, a debate we're going to be having this fall. yes, this is one of the large eevents we've seen in some time. the crowd is excited. they had a whole slew of virginia officials coming through a few moments ago. as you mentioned, a few seconds ago the former united states senator george allen, who, of

course, is running in a hotly contested race this fall. >> against tim kaine in virginia. that's a real battle under way. it's a big crowd but there is some space if folks still want to try to get in and see history unfold. there is some space you can see it in norfolk and watch what's happening live. you can see it here on cnn. we'll take another quick break. the the breaking coverage, romney/ryan ticket will be displayed momentarily. ♪

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we're waiting for mitt romney and paul ryan to get up on the stage. there are some preliminary speakers, i believe the governor of virginia, bob mcdonald, he's going to be speaking next.

let's go to the white house. brianna keilar is standing by. you've been speaking with democrats close to the obama campaign. what do they think about this decision by mitt romney to name paul ryan as his running mate. >> reporter: they are salivating, to put it in a term from one democrat i spoke to. waiting for the campaign, officially for the obama campaign waiting until the announcement is made. but all olong as mitt romney has considered his possibilities for a vice presidential pick, the sense was that with paul ryan there was a big vulnerability, obviously, because of the ryan budget. talking to democrats, one of the things they point to is that special election in upstate new york last year that got so much attention. it was a seat in the 26th congressional district that was won by a democrat, katit wound being a referendum on the ryan

budget. what we're expected to see once the announcement is made and the obama campaign starts to message is micro targeting. they will looking at constituents that matter and make the case if you look at the romney/ryan budget, this is going to hurt you, women, you the hispanic constituency. this is going to be the message they will be taking. the other thing, the caveat, when president obama has to detail what spending cuts might look like because of spending cuts set to kick in at the new year, that may leave him open a little bit -- a little vulnerable because of those spending cuts may help the romney campaign. the obama campaign is going to go full bore to set the message on these spending cuts as they say them under the romney/ryan budget, wolf. >> they are studying closely at obama campaign headquarters,

certainly democrats all over the country, this is going to be a fascinating debate between joe biden, the vice president and paul ryan, the vice president want to be. let's stand by and bring in contributors john avlon, senior political clm um nus from the daily beast. former bush white house secretary ari fleischer. democratic strategist james carville and cnn senior political analyst, former presidential adviser david gergen. he really, paul ryan, when you think about it, david, no foreign national security experience, no private sector experience. he's basically been in government virtually every since he graduated from miami university of ohio. what does that say to you? >> it says to me this announcement is important. he's going to be introduced to a lot of americans who never thought about hip as potential vice president. i think for the romney campaign overall, which has been mostly playing defense, this is an opportunity to go on offense and

go big and bold. after all, the whole idea of choosing paul ryan was to make this about big, bold ideas. they have to show us they can do that, go to that level and also be persuasive. it's a big challenge for them. this is important. we'll be watching closely to see if they are up to the challenge they have given themselves. >> for the first time ever, i think we should double-check this, there's not going to be a protestant on a major presidential ticket. a mormon, paul ryan is a catholic. what, if anything, does that mean? >> it is fascinating. it's a sign of how the country has evolved, the fact it's not a top line conversation. one other factor, with paul ryan because the first pure member of generation x to serve oppose a national ticket as well. to some extent this ticket represents the torch passing. it will reinvigorate the base not just in terms of style but substance and really bring this whole presidential campaign debate to a much more serious

level. i'm looking forward to that. >> what's the most important thing, ari fleischer, that mitt romney and paul ryan need to convey within the next few minutes once they are up on that stage right near the "uss wisconsin." >> wolf, they need to plant an ideological flag. they need to send the message somebody, them, is concerned about the biggest threats, high unemployment, ridiculous amounts of debt and high deficits. that's what it is. i think also interestingly they have a chance to recapture some of what barack obama had in 2008, that's the message of hope. i think under president obama the status quo was continued high unemployment. if they can make the case they can restore america, as they put it, the comeback team, that's an uplifting message of hope republicans are going to try to capture away from the democrat this time. >> should the democrats, james carville, be all that enthusiastic, gleeful right now about this selection? >> not gleeful.

wasn't to make one big point. the democrats are going to contest vehemently and respectively ryan is anything like a deficit reducer. he was on simpson-bowles and voted against that plan. most analysts think ryan's plan would actually increase the deficit. most analysts think his plan will increase health care cost. they are not going to concede anything. democrats and a lot of people will go right at ryan's plan will increase the budget deficit. they are not going to see any ground on fiscal responsibility at all, not an inch. that's one thing i do predict and i think that's very important to keep in mind as this unfolds. i'm sure ryan is a bright guy and they will go back and forth on this. we'll see. i think democrats think their position is strong here. >> let me bring back jim acosta in norfolk. more information on how this decision was made. is that right? >> that's right. that's right, wolf. a top romney adviser just e-mailed me this information a

few moments ago. i want to read it verbatim so i get this right. a little sleep deprivation and a lot of running around this morning. quote, governor made his decision august 1st and placed a call to ryan from beth's office at headquarters. that, of course, is beth meyers the head of the vice presidential selection process. this was after he returned from his foreign trip. he asked to meet with ryan in person. they subsequently met and the offer was made. that according to a top romney adviser. no word, wolf, as to when they sealed this deal waiting to get some guidance on that. we are starting to put some of the pieces together, that a call was made, it looks like, on august 1st, to paul ryan. not only did mitt romney make this decision and know about this decision august 1st and keep this all a secret from the rest of us for two week, so did paul ryan. >> interesting stuff. john king, should we be surprised this decision is being announced even before the formal end of the olympic games? we all thought he didn't want to do that, because that would take

away some of the excitement. >> well, if you think paul ryan is a surprise, you might think the timing is a surprise as well. look, one person and one person alone decides who and how. i'm sure governor romney's staff just yesterday we were having a lot of conversations, a lot of people said it would happen early next week after the closing of the olympic ceremony, then waiting after the bus tour to generate excitement. some close to governor romney didn't know it was going to happen. some were told it is going to happen. the outer circle of advisers wok up and saying, whoa, and started to be reporters like us. the governor has to make this decision. we look at this from a traditional standpoint, why would you do it during the big olympics event, from the standpoint we'll pick paul ryan apart. in the new media age 24/7, argue this, argue that, barack obama announced on saturday, hillary clinton announced her candidacy on a saturday, i think biden

leaked on friday but announced saturday. there's no golden rules in the world of communications. he is going on the bus trip. he does need to change the dynamics of the campaign. they decided you know what, let's go. >> i think once they chose him august 1 and let him know, as we all know, i think it was a matter of when they thought this right opportunity was. you have this bus tour, want to gin up a lot for the bus tour, what better way to do it than announce your running mate. >> on the weekends people aren't at work, that's number one. number two, if you look at old media, he will dominate sunday morning talk shows, as well as sunday morning papers, when people stay home and read newspapers and watch sunday morning. you know, john is perfectly right. >> self-interest. >> 9:00 a.m. that's all i'm saying. >> state of the union, is that what you're saying. >> it will indeed. >> what's interesting, you may use this byte on sunday morning

talk show. we have newt gingrich talking about right wing engineering when he was a challenger. he's since apologized for that we have president obama calling the ryan plan social darwinism. so these are all bytes to talk about what is in the paul ryan plan. what we know is he wants to raise medicare eligibility age to 67, which mitt romney has already embraced and spoken about. i think these things are going to be very controversial. not to mention he voted for the t.a.r.p. bailout and paul ryan also voted for the auto bailout. so here is a conservative who voted for two bailouts. >> because wisconsin is like many of those midwestern states very much influenced by the auto industry. >> that's right. he was voting his district. >> it is interesting in this 2010 was the tea party election. we have a nominee, mitt romney, who is not a darling of the tea party. candy made a point earlier he's taking a business risk.

as a candidate he was cautious. why? in part, he was out of step of the energy of the moment for the party. this is not to take sides but he won the nomination. some will say he had more money. he's the nominee. he won. this is a bolder choice. we are 86 days in what is a close election trending a bit toward the president in the polling numbers. if you look at the other fundamentals, no president ever one the election with an economy like this. no president won with consumer confidence lagging where it is. this is a fascinating race with huge consequential issues before the country. i think we talked about this at some point. if we can talk about medicare, social security, tax reform, america's place in the world, fiscal cliff, euro crisis, instead of bain and solyndra,

amen. >> harry reid, he didn't pay taxes at all. that takes that off the table now. what happens is if you come back to that harry reid says we need to see the tax returns. they can say, that's great. we need to talk about policy here. they can take high road, get them off some of the things they aren't comfortable with. >> he picked the man who is really at the intellectual center of that part of the party. for better or worse, you can agree with paul ryan or disagree with him but he's the intellectual behind the budget plan. >> the guy is dangerous for washington. >> you see over there right near that post in the pink sweater, that ann romney, mitt romney's wife. she's meeting with some of the folks over there. looks like she's got a cap, maybe says "uss wisconsin." she's getting excited i'm sure as well for this announcement.

ari fleischer, let me bring you back in. you're a good solid republican, worked in the white house. the fact paul ryan is a product of inside the washington, d.c. beltway, either as a staffer, think tanker, member of congress, he really has no practical, private sector experience. no real national security experience. how much of a liability is that going to be for this ticket? >> wolf, great question. i know paul very well. he doesn't talk like he's from washington. he really has retained the core being from the heartland, the ability to connect with people, to speak plain english. you won't hear him do bob dole, creature of washington, talk in washington speak. has he a way of speck in a humble, down to earth, easy to understand manner. you wouldn't know he's from washington in that sense. i think he's a good combination of a real policy expert who also brings intellectualism to

conservative ideology, something people, many conservatives, have been surging for. we want somebody to wrap the reason we need to confront the deficit, the debt in an upbeat manner because this is how you save the republic. that's what he conveys. that's what's exciting. what you don't want is an accountant, somebody who speaks like an accountant. you want someone with an uplifting nature to them. private sector side, wolf, republicans give him a pass because, first of all, you have mitt romney who comes from the private sector, makes a nice balance for the ticket. for democrats that's not going to matter. >> the fact he's never really managed anything in his career other than a relatively small congressional staff, what does that say? >> certainly it worked for president obama. senator obama really didn't have much experience, foreign policy knowledge. >> does that neutralize some of the criticism of president obama and joe biden? >> that criticism is not what this election is about.

this is not an election by virtue of -- this is an election mitt romney needs to turn into ideology, turn into the big policy matters that are going to change this country for better or for worse. that's where this election stands. now from president obama's point of view, he wants to make the focus on senior citizens, on medicare, and, of course, on mitt romney's radar. >> there's bob mcdonald. he's the governor of virginia. he was supposedly on one of the short lists as well. obviously he didn't get the vice presidential pick, but he's going to be introducing mitt romney, who in turn will introduce paul ryan. we're not very far away. stand by for that. i want to bring in donna brazil, campaign strategist who was the campaign manager for al gore's 2000 campaign. give me a thought. what do you think about this decision. the most important decision presidential candidate will make, who the running mate will be. what do you think of mitt romney's decision? >> i think it says a lot about mitt romney for selecting someone radical architect on

capitol hill, double down on tax cuts for wealthy, cut back government programs for the poor and middle class. this is going to be a classic conversation as to the role of government in our lives. we know that paul ryan opposed simpson-bowles deficit solution because it contained revenues. i think this is a conversation that the country should have. it may allow us to have a substantive conversation in terms of the challenges we face long-term in terms of getting our fiscal house in order. was it a bold choice? absolutely. was it a risky choice, you bet. democrats under paul ryan and mitt romney will put seniors at risk by jeopardizing medicare, turn it into a private voucher system. this is going to be a conversation we look forward to. but for today i think the best thing i can say is a democrat, congratulations to paul ryan and his family. this is going to be an

interesting race. i'm sure that over the next couple of weeks we'll get to know paul ryan's budget, his ideas, his plan. but for now i think it fills a big doughnut hole mitt romney had in his own campaign, detailing what he stood for on many fiscal issues. paul ryan, his budget and his proposals will fill that gap. >> this is a serious, substantive debate. let me bring david gergen back, as we await mitt romney. he's getting ready to speak, introduced by bob mcdonald the governor of virginia. he's speaking about a whole bunch of virginia-related issues, some races out there as well. david gergen, the republicans will argue, and you know this, what paul ryan is proposing as far as medicare is concerned, he wants to save medicare because if it keeps on going it will be destroyed for everyone. that's why he's come up with bold ideas for people under 55 years old. is that argument going to sway a lot of folks out there? >> well, it is certainly -- i

think it was certainly brave, wolf, when he put this forward. so many political leaders have ducked the question of entitlement reform. the ryan plan frankly has bipartisan roots. it's closely tailored to a plan the former budget director for bill clinton came up with on how to save medicare. i give him credit for putting an idea on the table in the courageous way he did it. the question is whether in the middle of a campaign like this with 87 days to go you can persuade americans this is not something risky. >> hold on. i want to hear what the governor is going to say, getting ready to introduce mitt romney, the governor of virginia. >> i'm still looking at that transcript to see if it's right. he said if you are successful in a business, you didn't build that. somebody else made that happen. well, ladies and gentlemen, i think that shows why we need a new president.

that statement tells you everything you need to know. this is a president that does not understand the american free enterprise system and the great american dream and we need a chan change. now, let's suppose you were interviewing for a job, your contact extended, that's what the president is asking us to do. you go in, got your resume. you try to tell your boss, the 8.2 million people of virginia you want to get rehired. let's look at this resume of the president. how about jobs? we've had 8% unemployment now for 42 months and we've got the lowest number of entrepreneurs starting businesses in 30 years. not so good, mr. president. when it comes to energy, his record is making it harder for our great coal industry to have

permits, making it hard for our great new people in the natural gas industry to engage in fracking, making it hard to build nuclear power plants. refusing to allow virginians to use their natural resources off the coast of virginia to drill for oil and natural gas. when it comes to the debt, let's look at that record. the largest increase in the american national debt in the history of our country, $5.2 trillion. all you young people here, you're paying the bill. that's the record. no plan to get out of it. only a budget that gets out to $25 trillion by the year 2021. so i'd say if you walk into an employer and you've got that kind of resume, there's only two words that come to mind, you're fired.

but thank god we've got a great choice this election. this election is about really one thing, and that is which candidate has got the vision and the ideas to get the greatest country on earth out of debt and back to work. you know, on the one hand we've got this obama vision of more sbil entitlements and more gaerns and more taxes as the way to prosperity. and mr. president, with all due respect, that's failed america now for the last three and a half years. then we've got the gop, the great opportunity party and its vision and its candidate. we've got that incredible reagan romney enthusiastic vision that recognizes the american dream if you work hard and dream big and pursue opportunity and use your god-given talents, you can still be anything you want to be in this great land of freedom, america.

one hundred years ago, poor farm boy from mayo county, ireland, left on a ship and landed in boston, massachusetts. that was my grandfather. he worked as a laborer in a glue factory and as a tanner. he never thought that 100 years later, that his grandson would end up with the same job of patrick henry, governor of virginia. that's the united states of america, the land of dreams and opportunity. so being an average middle class kid from fairfax county, i'm incredibly thrilled to be governor of virginia. that's the heart and soul of this campaign for mitt romney is doing things and putting policies in place that support and expand and offer hope and opportunity for our middle class families in america. governor romney has put forth a

visionary five-point plan to be able to get people back to work promoting entrepreneurship in small business because you did build it. if you do, you provide jobs and opportunity for other people. to get our great country out of debt by balancing a budget within the next -- within the next eight years, he's going to have somebody help him do that, to be able to get people trained in the skills and workforce and math and science and other disciplines necessary to create the workforce of the future. to be able to have a sustainable energy future, this president has got no plan. governor romney has an all of the above comprehensive plan to use all of our red, white, blue natural resources to promote american energy independence. that's going to help middle class create jobs and opportunity for a long time. so ladies and gentlemen, you know the issues and you know the

ideas of mitt romney. but i want to say above all those policy issues, what really matters is heart and character and vision and passion. the scriptures say for lack of vision the people perish. but just the opposite is true. with vision the people prosper. one of the lonliest places anywhere you can find is the inside of that oval office. when the cabinet members leave and the advisers are gone, the president of the united states has got to have faith and know what they believe and make the right decisions for the people of the united states. that's what you get with mitt romney. he's a man of faith, a man of principle, a man who has been successful as governor, successful on the private sector, successful running the olympics. he's a great family man. five kids, 18 grandkids. he's been incredibly generous to people all over the country and all over the world. he's got an amazing passion and vision for the country.

he's got a deep and abiding love for america, what it stands for and the great american dream. so ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the next president of the united states, governor mitt romn romney. ♪

>> what a welcome. thank you so much virginia. thank you so much. what a great governor you have. what a terrific man and a terrific leader. waying to. >> mitt mitt mitt, mitt, mitt, mitt, mitt, mitt! >> thank you so very much. it's great to be back in virginia and here in norfolk. your city's beauty is hatched only by its proud heritage as a defender of freedom. thank you, virginia. thank you, norfolk. today we take another step forward in helping restore the promise of america as we move forward in this campaign and on

to lead the nation to better days it's an honor to announce my running mate and next vice president of the united states, paul ryan. [ cheers and applause ] his leadership begins with character and values. paul is a man of tremendous character, shaped in large part by his early life. paul's father died when he was in high school. that forced him to grow up earlier than any young man should, but paul did, with the help of his devoted mother, his brothers and sister, and a supportive community. and as he did, he internalized the virtues and hardworking ethic of the midwest. paul ryan works in washington, but his beliefs remain firmly rooted in janesville, wisconsin.

he's a person of great steadiness whose integrity is unquestioned and his word is good. paul's upbringing is obvious in how he's conducted hisself throughout his life, including his leadership in washington, in a city that's far too often characterized by pettiness and personal attacks, paul ryan is a shining exception. he doesn't demonize his opponents. he understands that honorable can have honest differences. he appeals to the better angels of our nature. a lot of people in the other party who might disagree with paul ryan. i don't know of anyone who doesn't respect his character and judgment. [ applause ] paul is in public life for all the right reasons. not to advance his personal

ambition but to advance the ideals of freedom and justice and to increase opportunity and prosperity to people of every class and faith, every age and ethnic background, a faithful catholic, paul believes in the worth and dignity of human life. with energy and vision, paul ryan has become an intellectual leader of the republican party. he understands the fiscal challenges facing america our exploding deficits and crushing debt and fiscal catastrophe that awaits us if we don't change course. he combines a profound sense of responsibility for what we owe the next generation with an unbounded optimism in america's future and understanding of all the wonderful things the american people can do. paul also combines firm

principles with a practical concern for getting things done. he's never been content to simply curse the darkness. he'd rather light candles. throughout his legislative career he's shown the ability to work with members of both parties to find common ground on some of the hardest issues confronting the american people. so paul and i are beginning on a journey that will take us to every corner of america. we're offering a positive governing agenda that will lead to economic growth, to widespread and shared prosperity and will improve the lives of our fellow citizens. our plan to strengthen the middle class will get america back to work and get our country back on track.

we offer solutions that are bold, specific, and achievable. we offer our commitment to help create 12 million new jobs and bring home better take home pay to middle class families. to strengthen the middle class, we'll provide workers and children with skills to succeed. we'll cut the deficit, have trade that works for america and champion small business. and finally, we'll unleash our energy resources to achieve north american energy independence. we will help care for those who can't care for themselves and we will return work to welfare.

as poverty has risen to historic and tragic levels with nearly one out of six americans now having fallen into poverty, we will act to bring these families into the middle class, unlike the current president who has cut medicare funding by $700 billion, we will preserve and protect medicare and social security and keep them there for future generations. and under the current president, health care has only become more expensive. we're going to reform health care so that more americans have access to affordable health care and we'll get that started by repealing and replacing obama care.

at a time when the president's campaign is taking american politics to new lows, we're going to do something very differently. we're going to talk about aspirations and american ideals, about bringing people together to serve -- to solve the urgent problems facing our nation. and when that message wins in america, it will be a victory for every american. today is a good day for america, and there are better days ahead. jane me -- [ applause ] join me -- [ applause ] join me in welcoming the next president of the united states, paul ryan.

join me in welcoming the next vice president of the united states, paul ryan. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ >> wow! and right in front of the "uss wisconsin," huh? man! >> every now and then i'm known to make a mistake -- [ laughter ] >> i did not make a mistake with this guy. but i can tell you this, he's going to be the next vice president of the united states. >> governor romney, ann, thank you. [ applause ]

i am deeply honored and excited to join you as your running mate. i want to tell you about mitt romney. mitt romney is a leader with the skills, the background and the character that our country needs at this crucial time in its history. following four years of failed leadership, the hopes of our country, which have inspired the world are growing dim. they need someone to revive them. governor romney is the man for this moment.

and he and i share one commitment. we will restore the greatness of this country. i want you to meet my family. this is my wife janna. our daughter liza and our sons charlie and sam. i'm surrounded by the people i love. i love you, too. and i've been asked by governor romney to serve the country that i love.